Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
And then he left her in a cage. My body shakes with my bear’s grumbling. I rip the blanket off the cage and cover her with it.
“Master?” she asks in the softest whisper. Her quavering voice touches me light as fingers. Fuck, I’m hard.
“I’m not your master,” I answer her gruffly. I’m so pissed, my bear is ready to burst from my skin and tear down this mansion room by room. What kind of asshole leaves his sub to go through sub drop alone? Not just alone, but trembling in a cage? With nothing but dog food to feed her?
“Come here,” I order. She responds instantly, crawling closer.
“Closer,” I encourage before I can think about what I’m doing. “Come to me. All the way, kit. Out of the cage.”
Eyes still closed, she crawls out of the cage, straight into my arms. “That’s it.” I automatically cradle her close. As soon as her small body tucks against my chest, my bear’s angry commentary quiets into a low bass note. He’s purring. I didn’t know he could do that.
The woman rubs her face against my t-shirt, burrowing. Still on autopilot, I rest a palm on her head, guiding her to settle.
With a sigh, the little submissive relaxes.
“Good girl,” I murmur. The words are right there on the tip of my tongue. I’ve watched enough scenes at the club to know what to say, but I spoke them easily, without thinking. Her breathing slows, her mouth grows lax. Her eyes are still closed, so I don’t know the exact moment she falls asleep.
All I know is I’m standing inside a mansion I broke into, my arms full of a vampire’s pet, and I can’t let go. For the first time in a long time, my bear has found someone to hold.
Jordy
The rumbling under my ears fills my world. Cool air hits my face and then I’m tucked into a seat and strapped in. Two doors slam, one after another, and a big presence fills the space beside me.
I say the first word that’s usually on my lips. “Master?”
“I’m not your master,” the voice growls and my eyes fly open.
A scarred face greets me. He’s glowering at me and I lower my eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” he snarls and I duck my head. “No, fuck, don’t do that.”
I peer at him.
He’s rubbing his chest. “You’re all right. You’re safe with me.” He puts the truck in gear and pulls from the curb.
My fingers creep up and check for my collar. It’s still buckled snug around my throat. I sigh, sinking further into the passenger seat.
I do what I do best and stay meek and quiet for the first few minutes of the ride. I should be frantic leaving my master’s neighborhood with a strange shifter. A huge, angry shifter who hasn’t stopped growling since he unlocked my cage, scooped me into his arms and carried me from the house to the truck.
The road flies by before I have the courage to speak up. “Are you okay?”
“What?” He looks startled.
I shrink deeper into my seat. “You’re growling.”
He grimaces and rubs his chest. “Yeah. My bear didn’t like how you were being kept.”
I almost agree with him out loud, but a twinge of guilt keeps me from speaking against my master.
“Did my master send you to get me?”
The big guy looks away and I know his answer before he tells me. “No.”
I chew on this for the next few miles. I’m pretty calm, all things considered. But then, I’ve always rolled with life’s punches. When you’re a submissive shifter, there’s not much else you can do. The world is big and bad and the animal inside me likes to hide.
Now she’s alert, taking stock of our surroundings without the usual fearful edge. The truck is big and loud but doesn’t smell like the big shifter bear beside me.
“This is a nice truck,” I say.
“Not mine,” he grunts. After changing lanes, he offers more. “I stole it. I only had my bike and didn’t want to wake you.”
I glance out the window at the exit signs flying by. “Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere safe.”
Safe. The magic word. My fox relaxes. She doesn’t retreat, but I’m filled with the happy drowsiness that I rarely feel and always seek. My fox is usually on such high alert watching for predators, it takes the controlled pain to quiet her, to let me sleep. Even in subspace, she’s silently watching and waiting, filled with disappointment for a master that won’t appear. A good master. Someone who will protect us and keep us safe.
The sun cresting over the mountains means it’s morning.
“How long did I sleep?”
“Fuck if I know,” he sounds angry, but my fox is tuned into the loud rumble in his chest, and she knows the anger isn’t directed at her. “I arrived and you were alone. Why the fuck did your master leave you after a scene? Not just alone, but in a fucking cage?”